Russian-language media outlet topwar.ru, along with several Russian-language Facebook accounts (1, 2, 3, 4), published images of posters featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin, which were allegedly placed by Ukrainian partisans on the streets of Kyiv to mark his birthday. According to the post, over 1,000 posters were placed around Kyiv. One of the disseminated images features the Treasury of the National Museum of History of Ukraine. Topwar.ru claims, “These posters serve as evidence that not everyone supports the Kyiv regime.”
The claim about posters of Vladimir Putin being placed in Kyiv is disinformation. In one of the images displaying the building of the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, clear signs of digital manipulation are visible. The museum confirmed to “Myth Detector” that no posters of Putin were displayed on the building.
Several photos are circulating on social media, claimed to have been taken in Kyiv. One image shows the Treasury of the National Museum of History, with posters of Putin displayed on it. The Ukrainian flag is also visible, wrapped around the flag pole. The identical photo of the museum without the Putin posters can be found on the website texty.org.ua.


It is highly probable that the mentioned photo was digitally manipulated. Several details suggest this:
- The perspective of the image is entirely identical in both photographs.
- In both, the manipulated and authentic versions, the Ukrainian flag is positioned in exactly the same way—it is rolled up on a stick, with three folds visible. The authentic version was published on texty.org.ua on November 1, 2023, making it unlikely that the flag’s position has remained unchanged over the course of a year.
- Photo also features tree branches. In the manipulated version, the position and condition of the leaves on the branches are identical, except for two instances where leaves have been digitally removed, while the others remain unchanged from the original version.


4. In the manipulated version, a banner featuring a portrait of Ivan Mazepa, a Ukrainian military and political leader, is visible in the museum’s courtyard. According to the museum, they never distributed the mentioned poster. The portrait of Mazepa was created by Ukrainian artist Natalya Pavlusenko.

The authentic version of the photo features a poster for the exhibition “European Ukraine. Mazepa Day,” which took place in Ukraine in 2022.

5. The manipulated photo also has the flower pot removed, which can be seen below the flag in the authentic version.


“Myth Detector” also reached out to the National Museum of History to verify the information. The museum confirmed that such posters have never been displayed on the building. They also provided a photo showing the current conditions on the museum’s premises.

About the source:
The Facebook account Георгий Кушиташвили consistently disseminates false information. “Myth Detector” has previously fact-checked the disinformation propagated by this account on multiple occasions.
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